The Woman in the Letter

PART 59

IAN

Mary mixed the herbal tea and put it in front of her mother.

"I hope you don't have anything serious" What caught Ian's attention in the main room was a large black-and-white photo of the Abrams family hanging on the wall. Paul and Mary were about 7-8 years old. As soon as he looked at Sophie's old face, the changes in her face were more obvious.

She had her yellow short hair pulled back. She coughed and said, "You Didn't come here to ask about my condition?" Her voice was muffled. "The doctors said it was important for me to rest for a while. They say it's because of stress and nervousness, but think it's just a cold. "

"How long have you been like this?" Ian asked.

"3-4 days," Mary answered instead of her mother.

Mrs. Sophie's white face reminded Ian of her wife. Instead of the usual work clothes, a simple robe made her forget the image of a strong woman.

"Can you tell me why you came here?" Mrs. Sophie asked.

"I came to talk to you about Victor Atkinson"

"Who is he?"

"Mrs. Sophie" Ian answered "think again. Don't you know anyone by the name of Victor? "

"No," Sophie answered without thinking.

Ian stood up and put the picture of Sophie next to the teacup.

She picked up the picture and looked at it intently for a few seconds. Then she shook his head and said, "No. I don't know"

"You probably know why I asked this person." Ian took the picture back and put it in his pocket.

"The next crime," she said.

"The next crime?˝ Mary leaned forward from the leather chair where she was sitting and looked at her mother.

Mrs. Sophie took the cup without saying anything to Mary. While holding the handle of the cup, Ian saw that his hands were shivering. Her eyes were drawn. "I wonder what we did wrong," she murmured, shaking her head. "But I can't find it." We were always a family doing our own thing. I thought I knew my children. Until the day I found out that he had beaten Natalie"

"I know this man," said Mary without taking her eyes off the picture.

Everyone, including Ian, turned their attention to Mary. Mary's immediate response to Mrs. Sophie's pessimism vanished for a moment.

"Do you know him?" Mrs. Sophie asked her daughter with suspicion.

When Mary said, "It seems ..." Mary raised her head and said, "I don't know, but ..."

Ian listened intently without interrupting.

Mary paused for a moment and looked hesitant not to say anything. "Three years ago ... It was summer. I came to see my family. Paul took my daughter to a beach restaurant in the hotel. Again, I do not know exactly. " She frowned. "I mean, just because I met him," he said. "Then my daughter went into the sea. I was watching her on the beach. Suddenly, as soon as I saw someone grabbing Paul by the collar outside the restaurant, I got up and ran towards them. That man left Paul's collar until I got there. But the last thing I heard when I ran to them was If I see you near my wife again. I said I would call for security if he didn't move away immediately. He ignored me and left." Then she looked at the picture again. "I repeat, I am not sure. Maybe this is not the person. But he looks like to him " she said.

"Obviously," Ian had found what he was looking for. He found the connection between Victor and Paul, and it happened as he thought.

When they left the house, Sam asked, "But his wife told us she didn't know them."

"Because She knows that if we know about her relationship with Paul, she would live in shame for the rest of his life. But it was important for us to know what connected them, not the relationship between Paul and Victor's wife. We also found him. Now we have another question to answer. Why Victor Atkinson's wife is lying. Why she did not tell that Paul might kill her husband?"